Martin Luther King Jr. was remembered with a march and a program on the Southern Arkansas University campus on January 19, Martin Luther King Jr. Day.
The march began at 5 p.m. on Monday at the intersection of North Vine Street and University. Participants in the march made their way to Foundation Hall at the Donald W. Reynolds Campus and Community Center for a 5:30 p.m. program in Foundation Hall. This year’s speaker was Duane Charles Clayton, an assistant principal of the Pulaski County Learning Academy and a 1999 graduate of SAU.
Clayton is a member of the Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, the same fraternity King was a member of and is also a minster as was King. Clayton is the Free Ministry Leader in the Second Baptist Church in Little Rock under the leadership of Pastor Kevin A. Kelly.
Cledis Stuart, assistant dean of multicultural services and student advancement at SAU, said this is about the 14 year for SAU students, faculty and staff to celebrate the day with a march and a program.
“Last year we had good participation, but this is a historic year with the first African American as president. This means the dream is even closer to fruition,” Stuart said.
Another event people attended is the Annual Freedom Fund Banquet sponsored by the Columbia County Branch of the NAACP. The event was scheduled for 6 p.m., Jan. 17, in Grand Hall in the Reynolds Center. This year’s program will be devoted to the celebration of the NAACP’s 100th birthday. Claudell Woods, president, and chair of the SAU history, geography and political science department, was the keynote speaker at the event and will speak on the history of the NAACP.
Classes did not report Monday, Jan. 19 so students can participate in celebrating the life of King.
